Boys Basketball: Pt. Beach Set to Take on Atlantic City in T of C

After having already turned in the greatest season in the history of Point Beach boys basketball, the Garnet Gulls will be playing with house money on Wednesday night.

Sixth-seeded Point Beach will take on two-time Group IV champion Atlantic City, the No. 3 seed, in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions quarterfinals at 8 p.m. at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. The Garnet Gulls had never even won a sectional title in their history before this season, but they not only took the Central Jersey Group I crown but went on to also capture the overall Group I championship with a 43-39 win over Dayton at Rutgers on Sunday night. They also have set a school record with 28 wins.

Now comes their most formidable challenge in Atlantic City, which is 50-3 in its last 53 games and 29-1 this season, with its only loss coming to perennial powerhouse St. Anthony.

"It's hard to believe we're going to the (Tournament of Champions)," senior center Riley Calzonetti said. "It's definitely been a dream to play on that stage, and we're looking forward to a chance to go out and play hard against a good team."

Point Beach has kept the Group I trophy in the Shore Conference, as Class B Central rival Asbury Park won it the last two years to also earn the No. 6 seed in the T of C. Since the inception of the T of C in 1989, No. 6 seeds have only won three times against the No. 3 seeds in the quarterfinals, finishing 3-20 overall. Asbury Park was eliminated by Plainfield in each of the last two seasons, and the last Group I champion to win a game was Bloomfield Tech in 2004.

Only one Shore Conference team has ever reached the T of C final, and that was the Taquan Dean-Terrance Todd-Marques Alston Neptune team of 2002. That team lost to St. Anthony, so no Shore Conference team has ever won the prestigious tournament to finish No. 1 in the state. The Shore Conference is 5-11 all time in the T of C, and the last Shore team to win a T of C game was Raritan in 2004, when it defeated Haddonfield and former Duke center Brian Zoubek 63-44 in the quarterfinals before falling to St. Anthony in the semifinals.

Point Beach will have its hands full with a relentless Atlantic City team that is explosive off the dribble and relentless on the offensive boards. Senior guard Dayshawn Reynolds is the team leader and runs the show, and he and guard Isiah Graves have range well out past the 3-point line. Six-foot-eight center Jahleem Montague is a threat in the middle on offense and a shot-blocker who is part of an imposing front line that also includes 6-foot-5 forward Dennis White. Senior Ga-briel Chandler is yet another big body up front.

The Garnet Gulls will need one of their best rebounding efforts of the year on the defense glass by the trio of juniors Dominique Uhl and Noah Yates along with Calzonetti to limit Atlantic City’s second shots. Junior point guard Matt Farrell and senior guard P.J. Kineavy will also have to limit turnovers against the Vikings’ pressure and try to play Reynolds and Graves to a stalemate. Point Beach will want to use its athleticism off the dribble to pull Atlantic City’s big men out of the paint and beat them off the dribble or shoot over them if they are given space.

Atlantic City has a much deeper bench, so Point Beach’s starters will have to keep up with the Vikings’ intense pace with only two reserves who see any time. One thing that is clear is that the Garnet Gulls will not be backing down to anyone. They may be the smallest public school in Ocean County, but they are not just happy to be there against a Group IV behemoth like Atlantic City.

"The way we look at it, they have to play us," Kineavy said. "We've played a lot of good teams this year and going back to the summer, and we've won a lot of those games. We're a confident team, and we know we can play with anybody so we're looking forward to a chance to show what we can do."